And again, back to Scotland for the next SMWS dram! This time a Glenrothes from 1992. I always find this a bit of a weird distillery since I usually am not a big fan of their own (vintage) releases, but the style and releases from independent bottlers are usually pretty darn good. Let’s see if this one lives up to that!

Nose:
Light and fruity with heaps of green apples. Behind that is a lot of wood and old waxed leather.

Taste:
Pretty sharp (it’s SMWS after all) but very nice. It’s quite a complex dram with old fruit, spices and a very wintry feel to it. Quite warming.

Finish:
The finish is surprisingly smooth which lingers quite a while with spices and pepper.

A strange Glenrothes, since you usually get the sherry casks or sherried releases. This one is quite different. Before I tasted it I didn’t know it was Glenrothes and I think I would never have guessed if I was asked to. A very decent dram! They’ve called it ‘A spice cupboard’ but that feels a bit like overdoing it. There is some spiciness but not that much.

Glenrothes 1992, 16 years old, SMWS, ‘A spice cupboard’, 56.7%, Refill Hogshead, used to cost around € 99